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GI Bill Scheme Defrauded 2,500 Student Veterans

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation this week released details of a fraud scheme that bilked more than $24 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill funds, affecting more than 2,500 student veterans.

The scam, which the FBI called a "basic bait-and-switch," involved officials with Ed4Mil, an online correspondence course provider, and a now former dean of Caldwell University, a private institution located in New Jersey. The for-profit Ed4Mil recruited veterans and service members to enroll in what they thought were Caldwell courses. Instead the students were taking unaccredited correspondence courses.

The co-conspirators would charge up to $20,000 for correspondence courses that cost less than $1,000, the FBI said, while pocketing the difference. The scheme continued for about four years.

David Alvey, Ed4Mil's founder and president, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced last month to five years in prison. One of his employees also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.

Lisa DiBisceglie, a former associate dean and associate vice president of academic affairs at Caldwell, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to six years of probation, Jersey Shore Onlinereported.

Caldwell has said current university officials had no knowledge of the fraud, and the FBI said the university cooperated fully in the investigation.